Slide projector

Claim 2

A slide projector for projecting slides connected together in a continuous chain comprising: A light source and lens mounted in the projector and defining a viewing position for slides therebetween; electrically operated drive means for successively moving each slide in the continuous chain through the viewing position in the projector, said drive means being adapted upon actuation to move the slide continuously through the viewing position until deactuated; stop means in the slide projector adapted to sense the position of each individual slide in the chain as it passes through the projector, said position being sensed independently of the position or movement of the drive means, said stop means being further adapted to automatically engage the chain of slides and stop the chain of slides each time the stop means senses a slide in the viewing position; release means adapted to release the stop means; and control means adapted to actuate the drive means in response to the release of the stop means and to deactuate the drive means in response to the stopping of the chain of slides by the stop means.

Claim 3

A slide projector for projecting slides connected together in a continuous chain comprising: A light source and lens mounted in the projector and defining a viewing position for slides therebetween; electrically operated drive means for successively moving each slide in the continuous chain through the viewing position in the projector, said drive means being adapted upon actuation to move the slide continuously through the viewing position until deactuated; stop means in the slide projector adapted to sense the position of each individual slide in the chain as it passes through the projector, said position being sensed independently of the position or movement of the drive means, said stop means being further adapted to automatically engage the chain of slides and stop the chain of slides each time the stop means senses a slide in the viewing position; release means adapted to release the stop means; and control means adapted to actuate the drive means in response to the release of the stop means and to deactuate the drive means in response to the stopping of the chain of slides by the stop means.

Claim 4

A slide projector for projecting slides connected together in a continuous chain comprising: A light source and lens mounted in the projector and defining a viewing position for slides therebetween; electrically operated drive means for successively moving each slide in the continuous chain through the viewing position in the projector, said drive means being adapted upon actuation to move the slide continuously through the viewing position until deactuated; stop means in the slide projector adapted to sense the position of each individual slide in the chain as it passes through the projector, said position being sensed independently of the position or movement of the drive means, said stop means being further adapted to automatically engage the chain of slides and stop the chain of slides each time the stop means senses a slide in the viewing position; release means adapted to release the stop means; and control means adapted to actuate the drive means in response to the release of the stop means and to deactuate the drive means in response to the stopping of the chain of slides by the stop means.

Claim 5

A slide projector as claimed in claim 1 wherein: the chain of slides comprises a projection corresponding to each slide in the chain; the stop means comprises: a rotatable paddle wheel having a fixed number of radial blades corresponding to the projections on the chain of slides, said paddle wheel being positioned so that each succeeding projection on the chain of slides engages each succeeding projection on the chain of slides engages each succeeding blade of the paddle wheel and rotates the paddle wheel as the slides are moved through the projector; and cam means associated with the rotatable paddle wheel, said cam means being adapted to stop the paddle wheel each time a slide reaches the viewing position and being temporarily releasable in response to the actuation means to release the slides and permit rotation of the paddle wheel until the next succeeding slide reaches the viewing position, at which time the cam means automatically stops the paddle wheel and the slides.

Claim 6

A slide projector as claimed in claim 2 wherein: the cam means comprises: a cam wheel attached to and rotatable with thE paddle wheel, said cam wheel comprising a cam surface defining an irregular circular path and having stop surfaces on the path corresponding to each blade in the paddle wheel; and cam follower means engaging said cam surface means and mounted so as to be prevented from rotatable movement with the cam wheel, said cam follower means being adapted to follow the cam surface path, stopping the cam wheel each time the cam follower engages a stop surface on the path; and the release means comprises solenoid means attached to the cam follower, said solenoid means being adapted, upon actuation, to move the cam follower out of engagement with the stop surface on the cam wheel, thereby permitting the cam wheel to rotate until the cam follower engages the next succeeding stop surface on the cam wheel.

Claim 7

A slide projector as claimed in claim 1 and further comprising input and output slide accordion magazine means adapted to hold the slides in accordion fashion as they are fed into and out of the projector.

Claim 8

A slide projector as claimed in claim 1 and further comprising input and output slide reel magazine means adapted to hold the slides on reels as they are fed into and out of the projector.

Claim 9

A slide projector as claimed in claim 1 wherein the slides are clipped edge-to-edge by means of hinged edge clips, said edge clips being hinged together by means of flexible plastic strips that extend between the edge clips of successive slides.

Claim 10

A slide projector as claimed in claim 1 wherein the slides are mounted in a hinged slide holder providing a slide receptacle for each slide, the slide receptacles being hinged together by means of flexible plastic strips that extend between vertical edges of successive slide receptacles.

Claim 11

A slide projector as claimed in claim 1 wherein: the drive means comprises an electric motor having a continuously rotating output shaft and a drive wheel means engaging the chain of slides and adapted to move the slides through the viewing position when rotated in a predetermined direction; and the control means comprises slip clutch means interconnecting the output shaft of the electric motor and the drive wheel, said slip clutch means being adapted to urge the rotation of the drive wheel in said predetermined direction in response to the rotation of the output shaft of the electric motor, the urging of the slip clutch means being sufficient to rotate the drive wheel and move the chain of slides through the projector when the stop means is released but the urging being insufficient to rotate the drive wheel when the stop means has stopped the slides.

Claim 12

A slide projector for projecting slides connected together in a continuous chain comprising: a light source and lens means mounted in the projector so as to define a slide viewing position in the projector; an electrical motor mounted in the projector, said motor having an output drive shaft; means for operating the motor continuously during the operation of the projector; a drive wheel mounted on said drive shaft by means of a slip clutch means, said slip clutch means being adapted to provide driving engagement between the drive wheel and the drive shaft, said slip clutch means becoming disengaged whenever the resistance of the drive wheel to rotation reaches a predetermined level, said drive wheel being positioned in driving engagement with the chain of slides so as to move the slides through the viewing position; a plurality of projections extending from the chain of slides, one such projection being provided for each slide in the chain; a paddle wheel rotatably mounted in the projector adjacent the viewing position, said paddle wheel having a set of radially disposed blades corresponding to the projections on the chain of slides, said blades extending outwardly into the path of the projections such that the movement of the slides through the projector causes the projections to engage the blades and rotate the paddle wheel; a cam mechanism mounted fOr rotation with the paddle wheel, said cam mechanism comprising a circumferential cam path having stop surfaces thereon corresponding to each blade in the paddle wheel; a non-rotatable cam follower mounted so as to follow the cam path, said cam follower being resiliently urged into engagement with each stop surface so as to stop the cam each time a slide moves into its viewing position, thus stopping the paddle wheel and the slides as well; solenoid means connected to the cam follower and adapted to dislodge the cam follower from the stop surface upon temporary actuation so as to permit the cam mechanism and paddle wheel to rotate until the cam follower engages the next succeeding stop surface on the cam mechanism; and actuation means adapted to actuate the solenoid.

Claim 13

A slide projector for projecting slides connected together in a continuous chain comprising: a light source and lens means mounted in the projector so as to define a slide viewing position in the projector; an electrical motor mounted in the projector, said motor having an output drive shaft; means for operating the motor continuously during the operation of the projector; a drive wheel mounted on said drive shaft by means of a slip clutch means, said slip clutch means being adapted to provide driving engagement between the drive wheel and the drive shaft, said slip clutch means becoming disengaged whenever the resistance of the drive wheel to rotation reaches a predetermined level, said drive wheel being positioned in driving engagement with the chain of slides so as to move the slides through the viewing position; a plurality of projections extending from the chain of slides, one such projection being provided for each slide in the chain; a paddle wheel rotatably mounted in the projector adjacent the viewing position, said paddle wheel having a set of radially disposed blades corresponding to the projections on the chain of slides, said blades extending outwardly into the path of the projections such that the movement of the slides through the projector causes the projections to engage the blades and rotate the paddle wheel; a cam mechanism mounted fOr rotation with the paddle wheel, said cam mechanism comprising a circumferential cam path having stop surfaces thereon corresponding to each blade in the paddle wheel; a non-rotatable cam follower mounted so as to follow the cam path, said cam follower being resiliently urged into engagement with each stop surface so as to stop the cam each time a slide moves into its viewing position, thus stopping the paddle wheel and the slides as well; solenoid means connected to the cam follower and adapted to dislodge the cam follower from the stop surface upon temporary actuation so as to permit the cam mechanism and paddle wheel to rotate until the cam follower engages the next succeeding stop surface on the cam mechanism; and actuation means adapted to actuate the solenoid.

Claim 14

A slide projector as claimed in claim 9 wherein the actuation means comprises an automatic timing mechanism that intermittently actuates the solenoid at predetermined intervals.

Claim 15

A slide projector as claimed in claim 9 wherein the actuation means comprises a manually operated actuator that actuates the solenoid in response to a manually introduced control signal.